Date: Sun, 23 Jan 94 23:11:56 EST
Subject: Fight The Right report press conf.
NATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN TASK FORCE POLICY INSTITUTE
1734 14th St., NW, Washington, DC, 20009
(202) 332-6483 / FAX (202) 332-0207
TTY (202) 332-6219 / ngltf@aol.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
David Smith, (202) 332-6483
Robert Bray, (415) 552-6448
NGLTF RELEASES YEAR-END REPORT ON FAR RIGHT ATTACKS ON GAYS, LESBIANS AND
BISEXUALS;
OUTLINES GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING PLAN FOR FIGHTING THE RIGHT IN 1994
Washington, January 10, 1994...Eight states, from coast to coast and border
to border, now have initiatives that would ban discrimination protections for
gays, lesbians and bisexuals and represent what activists at the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) say is an unprecedented nationwide attack by
the Christian Far Right.
In a report released on January 10 at the National Press Club in Washington,
D.C., NGLTF
outlined the Far Right's attack on gays/lesbians and bisexuals, articulated
the Right's broader agenda behind its anti-gay campaign, and detailed a
grassroots plan of action to repel the Chris
tian Right and build a stronger gay/lesbian/bisexual movement. The report,
"The Right Response:
NGLTF Fight the Right Activities in 1993," details the Task Force's efforts
to counter anti-gay initiatives and organize grassroots activists for
long-term gains.
According to the report, eight states currently have filed language for
initiatives that deny protection against discrimination for gay men, lesbians
and bisexuals: Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, Maine, Missouri, Michigan, Florida and
Washington Signatures to place these initiatives on ballots in November 1994
have or are being collected. All but one -
- Idaho -- amend state constitutions. Idaho's measure is a statutory law. The
initiatives, if passed, in general would repeal existing anti-discrimination
laws for gays, lesbians and bisexuals and
prevent the passage of such laws in state or local jurisdictions (similar to
1992's Amendment 2 in Colorado). Two of the initiatives -- Florida and Maine
-- list groups to be protected by civil rights laws, but intentionally omit
sexual orientation.
Language varies with each initiative but typically th
e measures are framed as "no special rights" or "no protected minority
status." Often the actual wording links homosexuality with pedophilia. For
example, the Arizona initiative, typical o
f others, states:
"Neither this state [Arizona], through any of its branches or departments,
nor any of its agencies, political subdivisions, municipalities or school
districts, shall enact, adopt or enforce any statute, regulation, ordinance
or policy whereby pedophile, homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation are
the basis of, or entitle any person or class of persons to status or claim of
discriminatio˙n."
The report presented information on other anti-gay/lesbian/bisexual attacks
waged by the Far Right. In Lewiston, Maine, the Religious Right waged a law
that included sexual orientation. In Por
tsmouth, N.H., opponents of gay rights put a non-binding question on the
November ballot: "Should the Portsmouth City Council enact an
anti-discrimination law that protects on the basis of sexual
orientation?" Voters said no. And in Cincinnati, voters passed an initiative
that struck sexual orientation from the local civil rights law. Other attacks
in Cobb County, Georgia, Oregon and elsewhere were chronicled.
NGLTF reported on other states targeted for intensified Far Right action in
1994, including California, Colorado, Kentucky, Montana, Oklahoma, Wyoming
and Ohio.
These Far Right campaigns, say NGLTF activists, are the forefront of a
broader attack strategy of the Christian Fundamentalist Right tha
t invokes racism, homophobia and national economic and cultural insecurity.
"I believe these anti-gay campaigns are merely another vehicle through which
the Religious Right hopes to build a polit
ical and economic base for takeover," said Scot Nakagawa, NGLTF Fight the
Right organizer. "To do this, they will have to work that most central and
fundamental political and social division in our society -- the color line.
They are able to use gays, lesbians and bisexuals as stand-ins for other
minorit)y groups to agitate white people around the 'dangers' of quotas, affirmative
action and
minority status, while creating the impression that we don't all start out
theoretically with equal protection, but that protection is conferred to
minorities by the majority. We must win individual campaigns, but we must
also nurture and participate in the building of a united front to defend
democracy. "
As part of its 1993 activities, NGLTF's Fight the Right project sponsored or
participated in about 40 trainings, presentations and strategy sessions in 18
states throughout the year. At the center of 1993 activity was a six-month
grassroots Fight the Right tour from July through December that covered 15
states, 21 cities, 100,000 miles and trained an estimated 3,000 community
activists.
Most of the
trainings were scheduled in "hot spot" states facing immediate Far Right
attacks, with t
he remainder of the sessions designed to help "inoculate" other communities
against the Christian Right. However, by the end of the tour, the
inoculation states (for example, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Montana) were
themselves reporting heavy Far Right activity leading to possible anti-gay
initiatives.
In addition, NGLTF Fight the Right organizer Sue Hyde, based in Boston,
worked with activists in Portsmouth,
New Hampshire and Lewiston, Maine and provided assistance to those state's
campaigns.
In some states, the training sessions were the first time gay/lesbian and
bisexual people had ever gathered
together in one room to devise political strategy. Many of the participants
"came out" at the se
ssions.
"From the coastal towns of Maine to the Wyoming frontier, from the Arizona
desert badlands to Idaho potato country, from Florida resort towns to the
Oklahoma bible belt, from gay urban enclaves to rural hamlets, we helped
educate activists, give them strategies for securing and keeping civil
rights, counter the threat of Christian fundamentalists, and begin to build
strong communities that will be in
place long after a vote," said Robert Bray, NGLTF Fight the Right organizer.
To find activists in rural America to train, NGLTF organizers worked with
local, state and college gay/lesbian and bisexual groups whenever they
existed, tapped into progressive non-gay rural organizing networks,
advertised